Editorial: Zuckerberg isn’t fixing Facebook’s failures

Facebook has always dwelt in two worlds: the sunny, cat-video-infused social network atop a sophisticated data-collecting operation. Its billions of users may have known this, but not the extent of the company’s negligent handling of their personal information.

Now it’s Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s turn to explain how the two can coexist, and his effort shouldn’t lead anyone to click the “like” icon. He’s offering a mea culpa but not any major solutions. He’s confessing that the social media giant doesn’t really know the scope of the damage to data security and personal privacy. The tentative fixes tried out in recent years haven’t worked.

His awkward, unsatisfying explanation — which came four days after the storm broke over the Cambridge Analytica disclosures — isn’t nearly enough. The scandal is attracting all sorts of trouble for a once-golden enterprise that is stumbling over its size, importance and design weaknesses. Facebook, it seems, hasn’t really wanted to repair the flaws that might upset its data-hungry outside customers.

Already there’s a cry for hearings in Washington, an avenue that should worry Facebook and Zuckerberg, who would be expected to get the hot-lamp treatment. The company fears regulations on its lucrative information sifting. It’s also dragged its feet in the past by ignoring signs that it was manipulated by Russian provocateurs who interfered in the 2016 elections here and elsewhere. Topping that is the Cambridge operation itself, which gained access to personality profiles of millions of users with the goal of helping the Trump campaign. It’s a politically tinged moment in an election year.

Effective, balanced reforms could be produced. But orchestrated hearings on Capitol Hill with lawmakers throwing loaded questions at a once-favored company are too cynical to take seriously. Another protest gesture such as deleting accounts may not go far, given the addictive popularity of the social network. A Federal Trade Commission inquiry and challenges from several state attorneys general are also under way.

But Facebook alone can’t be left in charge of reforming itself. Zuckerberg hasn’t shown a willingness to clamp down on abuses that exploit Facebook and manipulate its army of users. An ocean of data, which is becoming the world’s truest currency, is at stake. If the company refuses to explain itself and offer genuine privacy protections, then it will face limitations handed down. That’s the predicament not only in this country, but also elsewhere in the world, where some 2 billion users sign on each month.

This commentary is from The Chronicle’s editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.